Cal Ripken's mother thwarts attempted carjacking

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Violet Ripken thwarted an attempted carjacking.

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Police spokesman says this incident not related to her 2012 abduction

Violet Ripken was at a bank when she was approached by a man with a gun

She set off a car alarm, and he fled and was caught 2 hours later

She was kidnapped by an armed man a year ago and held for 24 hours

A man committed an error when he tried to carjack the mother of baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., Maryland authorities said Tuesday.

Violet Ripken was at a bank parking lot in Aberdeen when the suspect, armed with a handgun, demanded her car.

Ripken pressed the panic button on her key ring, setting off the car's alarm and scaring the man away, the Aberdeen Police said in a written statement. Ripken was not hurt, they said.

Police got a picture of the man from an ATM and tracked him down two hours later.

He has yet to be charged, authorities said. They didn't release his identity.

It's not the first time Ripken has dealt with someone who threatened her with a handgun. She was abducted at gunpoint the morning of July 24, 2012, from her Aberdeen home. Her disappearance triggered a massive police manhunt and led to national media attention.

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Police said at the time that a man with a gun showed up at her home, forced her into her car and drove off. She was held captive for nearly 24 hours before being found the next morning in the back seat of her car near her home. Ripken's hands were bound, but she was otherwise unharmed, police said.

A spokesman for the Aberdeen police said it appeared the attempted carjacking was random. Lt. Fred Budnick said there was no indication Tuesday's crime was related to the abduction.

One of Ripken's sons is Cal Ripken Jr., who set the major league record for most consecutive games played with 2,632. He was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.

He has offered a $100,000 reward for the abduction case, which remains unsolved.

He is now a broadcaster for TBS, which like CNN, is owned by Time Warner.

His brother, Bill, is a former major leaguer who is a studio analyst for the MLB Network.